bonman- almost certain you dont need to hand pollinate the satsuma flowrrs. I never do and always get plenty of fruit

guess we were both right about your mango buds- really happy for you that you are getting some flowers

how many lychee fruit look like they have become pollinated?

hey lycheeluva,

good to know about the satsuma then.

for the brewster, i dont think fruit set is that much, a lot has dropped off, but im expecting a good handful to make it through. conservatively i think about 10-15 will make it, there are other branches which looks like the fruit is still sticking around (so far). i would like at least 5 to survive! There are still some unopen brewster flowers, so it looks like its still not completely done yet.

how is the pollination of your sweetheart? the flies helping out? it seems your mangoes are benefitting from it. the only problem i have with the flies is that if there too small, they will get into the led units, then i have to open it up and clean it out. can be a bit messy.

how many mangoes you expecting to make it through all the way?

its early to tell about the sweetheart pollination- a couple of years ago my sweetheart flowers swelled a little and then dropped off- so wont know how i am doing until the fruit hopefully reach to half an inch in size.
as far as the mangoes are concerned, a mature tree usually only hold 1-2 mangoes per spike- so i have about 8 flowers spikes but given the small size of the tree, id be throilled if 2 mangoes made it all the way,and id be satisfied if even one mango made it all the way

lycheeluva - the amount of mangoes per spike depend on the variety, environment and age of the tree. There are varieties that will and can definitely hold more than one/two per spike.

Rob

lycheeluva, for your mangoes and lychee, what size are the pots? growing mangoes in containers will, i think, limit how much fruit its going to hold. Also where did you get your blow flies?

It's really cold in NY today, even basement temps are just hovering around 69-70 with the lights and fan running (usually around 72-75).

bonman, not sure how many gallons, maybe 30-40?- large enough that i can barely move them! see below for blue fly source.

sure is cold in NY today- even with heater on full blast, couldnt get temps above 55 in garage today. not good for my mango pollination

Here is a link that might be useful: flies

Did you have to get the flies per cup? It seems rather expensive if you have to order 3 cups minimum (and that's a lot of flies!)

she let me buy one cup- came to about $14- not a big deal.
will probably order another cup tomorrow as there are not may flies left- alot of them died by climbing into the container saucers and drowning in the water that collects there (dumb flies)

That doesnt sound too bad. I might pick one up once the sweetheart and nam doc mai starts to flower. I'm hoping it happens around the same time. Thanks for the heads up!